Business aircraft activity down in November

A “robust” October 2012 for business aircraft activity was followed by a 6.3-percent decrease in November, said specialized aviation services company Argus International.

The analysis by Cincinnati, Ohio-based Argus said overall aircraft activity was down 2.3 percent year over year from November 2011 to November 2012. Results were further divided in the report by operational categories including Part 91, Part 135, and fractional; and aircraft categories of turboprops, large-cabin jets, mid-sized cabin jets, and small-cabin jets.

“Results by operational category were not all negative for the period, with Part 135 activity posting a positive year over year increase of 5.6 percent,” Argus said in announcing its monthly aircraft activity report. The Part 91 and fractional markets posted year-over-year decreases of 3.6 percent and 12.2 percent, Argus said.

Measures of activity by aircraft category produced a positive result in the small-cabin jet sector, which showed activity growth of 2 percent year over year. Large and mid-size cabin aircraft activity declined 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent. Turboprops had the biggest decline, 7.1 percent.

Among individual market segments, the 11-percent year-over-year activity increase for Part 135 small-cabin aircraft was the largest gain. The largest year-over-year decline, 40.6 percent, was registered in the fractional turboprop market.